1430. 🇲🇺 Mauritius Post Commemorates Relations With Japan.

🇲🇺 Mauritius Post issued a single stamp on 30 April 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mauritius and Japan. An interesting design depicts the recently completed radar station at Trou Aux Cerfs which was built in co-operation with the government of Japan which had been planned since 2002 with the need for it being emphasised by fatal flooding in Port Louis in March 2019. Rating:- *****.

🇳🇬 The postal service of Nigeria issued a pair of stamps on 25 April 2019 to commemorate the holding of the African Drum Festival in Ogun State. The two values are N50 and N100 and do not have holograms attached to them. There is no accompanying miniature sheet. Currently there is no illustration available apart from one which depicts part of the stamps so we will have to make do with that for the moment. The parts we can see suggest that the quality of design is no better than we have come to expect from the majority of recent Nigerian stamps. Rating:- **

🇨🇾 Cyprus Post will issue 2 stamps on 2 May 2019 as its contribution to the 2019 Europa omnibus issue the subject of which is ‘National Birds’. The two depicted birds are both birds of prey, a subject which has already been depicted a number of times on stamps of Commonwealth territories in recent months including Royal Mail and the South Pacific philatelic entities which are clients of the agency Philatelic Collector Inc. Rating:- *****.

🇲🇹 MaltaPost has released news of one of the dullest pair of stamps to be offered for sale this year. The issue will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Council Of Europe which is a not particularly significant anniversary and the design stamps adds nothing to the uninteresting subject matter. The stamps were printed in lithography by, I assume, Printex. Rating:- *.

1429. 🇨🇦🇬🇮 Sports Stamps From Canada And Gibraltar.

  🇨🇦  Canada Post issued a single stamp on 25 April 2019 to commemorate the Vancouver Asahi baseball team, a team of Japanese Canadians founded in 1914. The self-adhesive stamp is lithographed in booklets of ten and designed by Subplot Design Inc. Rating:- ***.

 🇬🇮 The Royal Gibraltar Post Office issued a set of 12 stamps each depicting a different sport on 25 April 2019 to commemorate the holding of the 18th Island Sports in Gibraltar between 6 and 12 July 2019. Fourteen sports will be contested in 193 events and it is expected that more than 2200 officials and competitors will participate.

  It’s an attractive set of local relevance. The issue was designed by Stephen Perera from illustrations by Leslie Gaduzo and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- *****. 

1429. 🇸🇬 Singapore Joint Issue With Israel.

🇸🇬 I have mentioned previously the 2 stamps which Singapore Post intends to release on 8 May 2019 as a joint issue with Israel Post and I now present better quality illustrations of the issue and details of the stamps. There is also an accompanying miniature sheet containing the 2 stamps. The subject of the the issue is ‘Flowers’ though birds and butterflies also feature in the designs. The issue was designed by Agnes Tan of Singapore and Tuvia Kurtz and Osnat Urshel of Israel and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 13.5. An attractive and relatively inexpensive issue. Rating:- *****.

🇧🇩 There are 2 new issues from Bangladesh Post to report though I do not know the dates of issue yet:-

2019 - Tenth Bangladesh and 3rd SAANSO Scout Jamboree - 1 miniature sheet containing a single circular stamp. Rating:- ***.

2019 - 50th anniversary of the honouring of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the title of Bangabandhu (Father Of The Nation) - 2 stamps issued in a se-tenant pair. Rating:- ***.

🇹🇷 The postal service of The Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus released its first pair of stamps of 2019 on 15 April 2019 to commemorate the 40th of the Turkish postal service and the National Stamp Exhibition held from 15 to 19 April 2019. The stamps were designed by GK Sonmezer. Rating:- ***.

1428. 🇦🇺🇨🇽 Australia Post - No Respite For Collectors.

🇦🇺🇨🇨 Australia Post has announced another parade of new issues for the upcoming 2 months - sadly. These, then, are the latest philatelic gems:-

7 May 2019 - Flightless birds - 3 gummed stamps and 1 self-adhesive $2.30c stamp (from a ‘sheetlet’ of 5). Designed by Sharon Rodziewicz and lithographed by RA Printing and perforated 14.5 x 14 or 14 x 14.5. The $1 values seem to be described as ‘definitives’ while the $2.30c is a ‘commemorative’ which all seems rather strange to me. Rating:- *. 

14 May 2019 - Bees - 4 gummed stamps and 4 self-adhesive stamps from booklets of 10 (one for each design) - designed by Kevin Stead and lithographed by RA Printing and perforated 14 x 14.5. Rating:- 0.

4 June 2019 - Issue inscribed ‘Cocos (Keeling) Islands’, Water sports - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet - designed by Jo Muré and lithographed by Egotrade and perforated 14 x 14.5. Rating:- ***.

4 June 2019 - Australian sports stadiums - 4 gummed stamps and 4 self-adhesive stamps sold in 4 booklets of 10 (one for each design). Designed by Andrew Hogg Design and lithographed by RA Printing and perforated 14 x 14.5. Rating:- 0.

17 June 2019 - China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition - 6 different miniature sheets, one released on each day of the exhibition and the set sold for a total of $20. Rating:- 0.

18 June 2019 - 50th anniversary of the establishment of equal pay for men and women - 1 gummed stamp - designed by Australia Post Design Studio and lithographed by RA Printing and perforated 14 x 14.5. Rating:- ***.

13 June 2019 - Sydney Stamp & Coin Expo (13 - 16 June 2019) - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 identical $1 stamps. Rating:- *.

May/June 2019 - ‘Marvel Avengers Endgame’ - 1 sheetlet containing 20 x $1 ‘Map of Australia’ stamps with attached labels sold for $23. Rating:- 0.

May/June 2019 - ‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ - 1 sheetlet containing 20 x $1 ‘Balloons’ stamps with attached labels sold for  $23. Rating:- 0.

May/June 2019 ‘Toy Story 4’- 1 sheetlet containing 20 x $1 ‘Fireworks’ stamps with attached labels sold for $23. Rating:- 0.

May/June 2019 - Centenary of ‘Felix The Cat’ - 1 sheetlet containing 20 x $1 stamps with attached labels sold for $23. Rating:- 0.

May/June 2019 - 115th anniversary of Dr Seuss - 1 pack containing 20 x $1 ‘Balloons’ stamps with attached labels sold for $23. Rating:- 0.

  ?May/June 2019 - Victory of Adelaide Crows in 2019 NAS AFL Women’s Competition - 1 sheetlet of 8 ‘Map of Australia’ stamps sold for $15.95 (total face value being $8). Rating:- 0.